ATLA Religion Database

ATLA Religion Database
Name	ATLA Religion Database
Producer	American Theological Library Association
Country	United States
History	1949–present
Cost	Subscription
Disciplines	Theology, Religious Studies, Biblical Studies
Formats	Journal articles, book reviews, essays, abstracts

ATLA Religion Database

The ATLA Religion Database is a subscription bibliographic index focusing on theology, religious studies, biblical studies, church history, and related fields. It aggregates abstracts and citations from scholarly journals, essays, and reviews to support research in institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Oxford University, and Cambridge University. Libraries and scholars from organizations like the American Academy of Religion, Society of Biblical Literature, Vatican Library, Library of Congress, and British Library rely on it for comprehensive coverage of literature connected to figures such as Karl Barth, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Paul Tillich.

Overview

The database indexes materials on topics involving institutions such as Catholic Church, World Council of Churches, Southern Baptist Convention, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Church of England. It includes scholarship about individuals such as Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and Søren Kierkegaard. Coverage spans geographies linked to Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, Mecca, and Vatican City, and intersects with movements tied to Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Great Awakening, Pentecostalism, and Enlightenment. Major works indexed include studies of Bible, Quran, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Nag Hammadi texts.

History and Development

Originating from efforts by the American Theological Library Association and contributors from institutions such as Union Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Duke Divinity School, the database evolved through print predecessors connected to centers like New York Public Library and Getty Research Institute. Early indexing projects referenced scholarship on events like the Council of Trent, Second Vatican Council, Edict of Milan, Diet of Worms, and Synod of Whitby. Technological transitions involved partnerships with vendors such as ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and OCLC, while standardization drew on authorities like the Library of Congress and the Dewey Decimal Classification system. Contributors over time included scholars of Biblical archaeology working at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Chicago, and Brown University.

Coverage and Content

The database catalogs articles, book reviews, and essays from journals published by presses such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, Brill, and Sage Publications. It indexes content on persons like Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, Martin Luther King Jr., and Desmond Tutu. Thematic coverage includes studies on movements and events such as Pentecostalism, Charismatic movement, Liberation theology, Fundamentalism, and Secularization. Regional foci reflect scholarship about Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe, and engage with texts referencing Torah, Hadith, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and Lotus Sutra. Indexed journals include titles like Journal of Religion, Religion Compass, Harvard Theological Review, Scottish Journal of Theology, and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Access and Indexing

Institutions access the database via platforms operated by providers such as ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and ATLA-affiliated consortia at universities including Columbia University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and University of Notre Dame. Indexing employs controlled vocabularies connected to authorities like the Library of Congress Subject Headings and integrates identifiers from systems including ORCID, ISSN, DOI, ISBN, and LCCN. Metadata supports linking to catalogs at the British Library, National Library of Medicine, and Bibliothèque nationale de France. Coverage statements reference frequency of updates used by archives such as JSTOR and repositories like HathiTrust.

Reception and Use in Scholarship

Scholars at centers including Princeton University, Yale University, University of Edinburgh, King's College London, and University of Toronto cite the database in bibliographies and literature reviews on topics related to figures like Graham Greene (theologian studies), Hannah Arendt, Mircea Eliade, Rudolf Bultmann, and G. K. Chesterton. It is recommended by librarians at American Theological Library Association conferences and used in theses examining events such as the Great Schism, Crusades, Philippine Independent Church developments, and Taiping Rebellion religious dimensions. Critiques in library studies from institutions like Cornell University and Indiana University have focused on subject coverage, indexing depth, and representation of journals from regions such as Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Technical Specifications and Integration

The database provides metadata records compatible with protocols and systems including Z39.50, SRU, MARC21, OAI-PMH, and supports export formats usable with tools like RefWorks, EndNote, Zotero, and Mendeley. Integration examples include link resolvers at Ex Libris (SFX), discovery services such as EBSCO Discovery Service, and institutional repositories at DSpace-hosted universities. Authentication commonly uses standards implemented by Shibboleth, OpenAthens, and SAML, and subscription management is handled through consortium agreements with entities like CARL and JSTOR partner libraries.

Category:Bibliographic databases